Babcock grad burns bright

Former Liverpool John Moores University student Jessica Hollingworth has been honoured by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB).

Jessica receiving her award from Tracey Shelley of the British Chemical Engineering Contractors Association

Now working at Cavendish Nuclear, a subsidiary of Babcock, Jessica received the Learner of the Year award at an ECITB ceremony held last week in Manchester. Having joined Cavendish in 2013, Jessica was seconded to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for two years, where she worked in the Office for Nuclear Development across all aspects of UK nuclear new build.

“I’m still in shock to be honest,” said Jessica. “To be recognised by the ECITB for something I love doing is fantastic. Babcock and Cavendish Nuclear gave me the best start in my career and I was able to achieve so much because of the amazing support network there is for graduates.”

“I got the opportunity to work in government on policy white papers, commercial strategy and project management. It was a great experience and I’m looking forward to applying what I’ve learnt into the next phase of my career.”

Cavendish’s Sarah Griffiths, another alumna of the company’s graduate scheme, was nominated for the Women in Engineering Award in recognition of her work to redress the profession’s gender imbalance. Sarah was pipped to the top prize by Nicky Mason from AmecFosterWheler.

“The whole team is extremely proud of everything both Jessica and Sarah have achieved, especially with the competition being so tough,” said Simon Bowen, managing director of Cavendish Nuclear.

“As a profession, however, we know there is much more we can, and should, be doing to encourage more women to get involved. This year we are delighted that over a third of our graduate intake is female, and they’re already working to support the next generation of young engineers out there.”